7 White Foods — and What to Eat Instead

The No White Foods Diet, also known as the No White Diet, is an eating pattern founded upon the notion that eliminating processed white-colored foods from your diet can help you lose weight and improve your blood sugar control.

Proponents assert that most white foods are unhealthy, as many have been heavily processed, are high in carbs, and contain fewer nutrients than their more colorful counterparts.

Thus, by removing the white foods from your plate, you are said to set yourself up for a more nutritious diet that promotes weight loss and restores blood sugar balance.

Most health experts would agree that basing your dietary choices strictly on a food’s color is an oversimplified way to approach good nutrition.

However, this dietary strategy may have some merit, especially if it helps you reduce your consumption of ultra-processed foods in favor of more nutrient-dense ones.

White pasta is similar to white bread in that it’s made from refined flour that contains fewer total nutrients than the unrefined version.

Interestingly, white pasta has not been shown to increase weight in the same way white bread does — provided you’re eating it alongside a diet comprising other nutritious foods (3).

However, the serving sizes of pasta in Western diets tend to be very large.

If you’re not mindful of your portion size, it can be easy to eat too much at once, which may contribute to excess calorie intake and subsequent weight gain.

Healthier swap: whole grain pasta

For a nutritional boost, choose a pasta made from whole grains.

Whole grain pastas typically contain more fiber, which can leave you feeling fuller and more satisfied. The extra fiber can also help slow your body’s digestion of the carbs, supporting improved blood sugar control (4).

It’s unsurprising that the No White Foods Diet eliminates white sugar. Still, most versions of the diet also prohibit more colorful forms of sugar, including brown sugar, honey, turbinado sugar, maple syrup, and agave nectar.

These types are often collectively referred to as added sugars. Aside from calories, they offer very little in terms of nutrition.

Because they’re primarily made up of simple carbs, added sugars require very little digestion. They’re quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and can contribute to rapid blood sugar fluctuations.

Added sugars pack a lot of calories, even when portion sizes are kept relatively small, so it’s easy to accidentally overconsume them.

They have also been linked to negative health outcomes, such as unwanted weight gain and an increased risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes (6).

Healthier swap: fruit

If you have a sweet tooth and are finding it difficult to eliminate added sugars from your diet, opt for naturally occurring sources of sugar from whole foods like fruit.

Fruits contain simple sugars that are chemically identical to those in added sugars. However, they also pack vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants — all of which help minimize the harmful effects that may otherwise arise when consuming sugar by itself (7).

summary

The overconsumption of added sugar is linked to weight gain and an increased risk of chronic disease. For a more nutritious option, choose whole food sources containing naturally occurring sugar like fruit instead.

Most people are familiar with table salt as a white food, but it also comes in other colors, such as pink, blue, and black.

While some salt is essential for health, many people following Western diets eat entirely too much of it, with the majority coming from ultra-processed foods (8).

Excess salt intake is associated with a variety of negative health effects, including an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, obesity, and kidney disease (8).

The No White Foods Diet emphasizes reducing salt intake from more processed sources, such as canned foods, condiments, and prepackaged meals, many of which also likely contain other white foods prohibited on the diet.

Healthier swap: colorful herbs and spices

Reducing your salt intake doesn’t mean you have to live off flavorless foods.

Conversely, you can try to view it as an opportunity to experiment with using a more diverse array of herbs and spices in your cooking.

Herbs and spices tend to be concentrated sources of antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals, which may play a role in reducing inflammation and regulating blood sugar (9).

Try using herbs like oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary, as well as spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, paprika, and cayenne pepper, to add flavor to your food without using salt.

summary

Salt is essential for health, but many modern diets contain far too much. Using more nutrient-rich herbs and spices to flavor your foods is a great way to cut down on salt without compromising flavor.

White potatoes are not inherently unhealthy. In fact, they’re a great source of several important nutrients, such as potassium, vitamin C, and fiber (10).

Still, they have earned a reputation for being unhealthy, largely because of the ways in which they’re often prepared.

When white potatoes are prepared in less nutritious ways, such as frying or serving them with salty, high calorie toppings like gravy, they’re more likely to contribute to weight gain and other negative health outcomes (10).

Furthermore, many modern dietary patterns rely on these types of white potato preparations as a vegetable staple while excluding other types of vegetables.

Thus, if you routinely consume white potatoes as your main vegetable, trading them out for different types of colorful vegetables can help you add a more diverse array of nutrients to your diet.

Healthier swap: colorful vegetables

Eating vegetables from a variety of color groups — including green, orange, yellow, red, purple, and white — has been associated with a reduced risk of chronic conditions like heart disease and colon cancer (11, 12).

If you’re trying to cut down on carbs, try swapping your potatoes for some non-starchy vegetables, such as asparagus, zucchini, leafy greens, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, or cabbage.

summary

White potatoes are very nutritious, but they’re often prepared using unhealthy methods. If you usually eat white potatoes, try swapping them for other colorful vegetables to increase dietary diversity.

The No White Foods Diet is a popular diet trend that focuses on eliminating white-colored foods to support weight loss and blood sugar balance.

Several of the white foods excluded come from ultra-processed sources, such as refined grains and sugars, and can be easily replaced with more nutritious alternatives, including whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

However, evaluating the quality of a food solely by its color may not be the best way to determine whether it’s healthy. Many white foods are highly nutritious and can be used to support weight loss.

Instead, it’s best to focus on consuming whole, minimally processed foods and practicing moderation when consuming those that are less nutrient-dense.